Vermont Sen. Leahy decries Saudi ‘cover-up’

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy says the Saudi account of the death of a journalist “reeked of a cover-up.”

After initially denying any involvement in journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance, the kingdom said early Saturday that the Saudi writer and critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was killed in a “fistfight” in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and that 18 Saudis have been arrested.

Leahy, a Democrat, said in a statement that the Saudi account “has been unraveling since it began.” He said the American people deserve to know what President Trump and intelligence officials know, and that the U.S. “must not be complicit in this cover-up.”